virtues, the duty to be both brave and tender, the duty of courage for
the man and courage for the woman. You have inculcated stern horror of
the baseness which finds expression in refusal to perform those
essential duties without which not merely the usefulness, but the very
existence, of any nation will come to an end.

Under such conditions it is eminently appropriate that you should write
the biography of that soldier-son of France whose splendid daring has
made him stand as arch typical of the soul of the French people through
these terrible four years. In this great war France has suffered more
and has achieved more than any other power. To her more than to any
other power, the final victory will be due. Civilization has in the
past, for immemorial centuries, owed an incalculable debt to France; but
for no single feat or achievement of the past does civilization owe as
much to France as for what her sons and daughters have done in the world
war now being waged by the free peoples against the powers of the Pit.

Modern war makes terrible demands upon those who fight. To an infinitely
greater degree than ever before the outcome depends upon long
preparation in advance, and upon the skillful and unified use of the
nation's entire social and industrial no less than military power. The
work of the general staff is infinitely more important than any work of
the kind in times past. The actual machinery of both is so vast,
delicate, and complicated that years are needed to complete it. At all
points we see the immense need of thorough organization and of making
ready far in advance of the day of trial. But this does not mean that
there is any less need than before of those qualities of endurance and
hardihood, of daring and resolution, which in their sum make up the
stern and enduring valor which ever has been and ever will be the mark
of mighty victorious armies.